Junior Mythbusters

We're big fans of Mythbusters around here.  In fact, over the past several months, Friday night has become our traditional Mythbusters & panini night (thank you, Amazon instant video, for feeding our habit.)  Heaven forbid we plan anything else on a Friday.

One of the Mythbusters' taglines is "don't try this at home".  However, there's one myth we've always wanted to test: Diet Coke and Mentos.  Around Christmastime, I discovered a kit that contained a roll of Mentos and a plastic tube designed to let you drop several mints into a bottle of Coke at one time.

The setup

A plastic pin holds the mints in place until you're ready to pull the cord and release them all at once, and there's a hole in the top for the resulting geyser of Coke.  Of course I had to buy it.  We've had the kit since then, but haven't gotten around to using it.

Until this weekend.

Uncle Blaine and Aunt Mel came to visit us from Seattle.  Blaine is a big Mythbusters fan, too, and it was finally not raining, so Saturday seemed like the perfect day to try out this experiment for ourselves.

We headed over to the park and set up in the grass.  The girls took turns dropping the mints into the tube, and then we all stood back.

Vicki somehow managed to score the role of
cord-puller without a fight

I think it's safe to say we had a blast.

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

Today marks 40 years since the debut of what is quite possibly the most beloved children's program of all time.  I grew up watching Sesame Street and all its lovable furry monsters, and I'm proud to say my children love it, too.  Everyone has their favorite moments from the Street.  Please indulge me as I share some of mine.

This is the most awesome rubber duckie song ever:


Grover has always been my favorite monster. He's bumbling and clueless, but he's so sure of himself.  And he announces his presence by saying, "It is I!"  What's not to love?


The 70's colors and animation, the funky music...how many of us learned to count to 12 by watching this? How many of us still can't count to 12 without singing this?


I'm not embarassed to say that there are many, many more, but in the interest of time, these three will have to do.

And now I invite you to join me in celebrating this awesome show and tell me, what are your favorite Sesame Street moments?

Look! I've created skeptics

At the beginning of the summer, when the TV gods failed and the digital switchover took place, the girls discovered Qubo. And I discovered that it’s possible to loathe a TV channel with a loathing so powerful it makes Chutes and Ladders sound like fun.

While the shows are sub par, what I hate most are the commercials. Oh, the commercials. They’re not even for stuff I might possibly find useful. In my opinion, everything advertised on Qubo falls into one of two categories: a) stupid kid stuff (Pillow Pets, Chixos, Moon Sand, and Bendaroos all fit here), or b) stupid adult stuff (the Snuggie tops this one, but there’s also Gold Envelope, Heel Stick, and the Cell Phone Wallet, which the girls think I need.)

I've mentioned before how I explained the possibility that you can’t always trust advertising, and how I demonstrated "before" and "after" (actually, it was “fat” and “skinny”, but same difference) for them. Well, yesterday afternoon I happened upon my children gathered around the TV set, deeply involved in an ad for a hair restoration product. And commenting out loud. “No way that’s the same person!” “Oh, you can totally tell that’s a different head!” “Look, the hair’s not even the same color!”

The small comfort in this new additude is that in all likelyhood they’ll always be safe from Nigerian bankers.

But wait...there's more!

Well, we made it unscathed through the digital switchover. We did end up getting Fox, so thankfully we won’t have to shell out for cable. And now, my sweet children, who have never in their lives watched anything other than PBS Kids, have discovered Qubo. All kids shows, all day long (and all night, too!) Forget Sesame Street, Arthur, and Cyberchase. The girls now get to watch shows like Lambchop (you know, the puppet lamb with the song that never ends – joy), Postman Pat (and his black-and-white cat), and (I swear I am not making this up) Marvin the Tap Dancing Horse.

One of the things we have always loved about PBS Kids, other than the educational nature of its programming, is that there are no commercials. Ever. Other than the quarterly pledge drives, they never broadcast anything that asks for money. And even then, there’s only the tiniest mention of it during the kids’ shows.

Qubo is a different story. Oh, they don’t show regular commercials. We get no plugs for toys, tampons, or bathroom cleaners. No, instead, in between every show, there’s a mini-infomercial. I am not joking. Vicki just came in and excitedly informed me that we need some sort of hanger contraption that can hold up to five hangers and reduce crowding in your closet. And while I will admit that this is a bit of a problem in their closet, it’s nothing that can’t be solved by Mom going through and sorting out the clothes hanging in there that don’t actually fit anyone right now. But the girls see a different solution – the Wonder Hanger! She brought up here with her not only the verbal information, but a napkin on which she’d written the phone number, the price, and a note that we’d be getting a $50 value for just $9.99! Not only that, but if we call now, we’ll also get a free closet light! (never mind that every closet in our house already has a light)

After I (unsuccessfully) convinced her that we don’t need and aren’t EVER going to buy anything off a TV commercial, she said, “Are you bothered by toothpaste messes on the counters?”

Oh, Heaven help us all.